Challening sagging rubber Tudor building

 

Those of you who read my Shakespeare Code Doctor Who game for Cangames 2024 blog will know I have to get around 15 to 17 Tudor type buildings ready for the game, so every building counts!  That includes an old rubber Wordmaker? latex rubber Tudor Inn I purchased in a Bring and Buy at a previous Cangames.

The challenge it to find a quick and effective way to stop it from sagging. Possibly using Lego, or carved Styrofoam blocks, or small plastic pellets inside the shell to give it support.  Shredded paper proved to be too light to eliminate the sagging and sand too heavy.

Joey keeps a watchful eye on the Rubber Inn

Sleeping on the job.

 Hmmm I wonder if filling it with unused kitty litter might work? 😀

Prep for Cangames 2024 the Shakespeare Code - Doctor Who

This years Cangames game (May 19, 2024) will be another Doctor Who game, based on the TV episode the Shakespeare Code.   The game will be set in London England in 1599 with the Tenth Doctor, Martha and a variety of Elizabethan characters attempting to foil or expedite the scheme of six witch-like Carrionites to rewrite the ending Shakespeare’s play Love's Labour's Won rewording it to cast a spell to free the rest of the Carrionite race from imprisonment bring destruction to the world. The scenario is based on  a two player scenario created for the Doctor Who the Miniature Games Rules (DWMG).

Unlike previous years when I used the DWMG rules, this time I plan to use Pulp Alley rules as I think these rules are better suited to represent this multi-player scenario.  Those of you who have read some of my earlier blogs will know I have used these rules for other genres in the past. A short introductory video on the rules by the author Dave, can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBraL7mwXgM

Those of you who just watched the video will have heard Dave say that the rules are designed for up to four players and I will likely have 5 to 7 players, so some adjustments will have to be made. This includes drawing coloured tiles to determine who moves to speed up the game. Additionally I have kept the leagues small, 3 figures per player.  

This will be an "evergreen" post as it will get updated as I progress preparing.

Promo picture from TV episode the Shakespeare Code.

Some of the potential figures I may use in the game from my existing collection as of  March 1, 2024.

Happy New Year

 Happy New Year Everyone, all the best in 2024

Making slow but steady progress getting my 28mm sailors in white tropical / Pacific uniforms painted, including two versions of Vera Lynn, all for Menelduir's the Pulp Alley China Station campaign.  Along with them some RN sailors in blue (Atlantic) uniforms and a Humber Scout Car, all for Bolt Action.

Figures by Warlord, Pulp Figures and Bad Squido

 

Belated 2023 Halloween Post

Sadly no Halloween game this year, but recently I did receive Tim Prow's The Battle For Black Mere kick-starter set of 28mm skeleton figures.  

 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/diehardminiatures/the-battle-for-black-mere-undead-faction

These pictures are from the Kick-starter project and not my work, I have yet to paint my figures. These are by no means all the figures available in the kick-starter, just the ones I ordered.

Die Hard Black Mere Skeleton Pikemen

6mm French 1940 Infantry and German Fallschirmjagers

 Now that I am back in to playing 6mm W.W.II (Spearhead and Fist Full of TOWs3) I have pulled some of the figures out of storage including German, French and British AFV and infantry. Although the scenarios I have played recently with the Spearhead rules were set in Normandy in 1944, I have always wanted to play some games set in France in 1940 so it is time to start painting my French 1940 Infantry by Heroics and Ros (H&R) and GHQ. Plus as I will note later some 6mm German Fallschirmjagers (FJ)/ Paratroops that can be used for 1940-45 will be on the painting table soon (I hope).

 

Painted H&R Classic German Fallshirjager with LMGs

WIP GHQ & H&R French 1940 Infantry in Vallejo khaki green

Spearhead 15mm Pushing Forward February 17, 2023

This was a 15mmSpearhead game run by my friend William at the Ottawa Miniatures Games Club on Friday night February 17, 2023.  The terrain and figures were contributed by multiple players, including myself resulting in a bit of an unmatched look  The Scenario is called Pushing Forward set in the Summer of 1944 and was a test Game for Cangames 2023 and can be found here.

 https://ww2spearhead.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/pushing_forward_1944.pdf

 

Overview

 

Building a Canopy forest with removable top in 6mm scale

This is a summary of how I built a 6mm scale prototype forest with a removable canopy top in 6mm scale for second World War games, which might also work for 15mm scale infantry, possibly for War of 1812 games. The finished product is shown below.

Top half of photo shows Forest with removable canopy and base

I decided just to make one forest to start with, figuring I would likely learn by my mistakes, and best to do that with one forest before going into "mass production" of 10 or more.

Spearhead Battalions Advance OMG February 2023

 I was pleased that some new members at my Games Club the Ottawa Miniatures Gamers (OMG) club  have expressed an interest in playing  Spearhead, a battalion / regiment level Second World War land battle game,  reviving one of my favourite micro scale Second World War rules sets that I had not had a chance to play in over a decade at the club.  This game took place on Sunday February 5th, 2023 at OMG, it is set in the Summer of 1944 in Normandy with two reinforced British battalions attacking one German reinforced battalion that is defending a town and a nearby ridge line. The scenario is an introductory scenario since both players  had not played for some time and with an AGM a the club meeting interrupting the game we had limited time. The game was played in  6mm, 1/285 scale on a 3' x 4' gaming area, a Warzone Homeland - green grass and earth mouse pad mat.

 

Scenario map

The map above is based on a 36" wide by 48" deep table where each grid square  is 12" in width or 1200 yards. A series of woods break-up the battlefield and provide cover for both the British forces and the German defenders, whom I was playing.

The scenario called "Battalions Advance" can be found here: https://ww2spearhead.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/battalion-advance/comment-page-1/#comment-292

New Lighting

 Here are some pictures of the new Deformable LED light I installed over my upstairs game table.  One lamp  provides more than enough light to illuminate my 58" x 72" games table.  It was only $14 from Lee Valley, is easy to install, removable / portable, uses very little electricity and relatively inconspicuous.  It also required a hanging socket with hooks and a long cord from Amazon.

The Lamp suspended to the season

 

Wargame Table Height.

Having slipped on some back ice just before Christmas  my back was not up to bending over the standard 29" high folding / banquet table I use for miniature games. If yo think about it these 29 to 30 inch  tables are designed for sitting at for dinning.  A more appropriate height would be that of kitchen or bathroom counters designed for standing at which are around 34" to 35" high. The early proponents of modern day wargaming like Donald Featherstone and Terence Wise advocated higher tables between 36" and 42" high in their books.  So I tested a  37.5" high table for my first Fantastic Battles 1.2 game of 2023 (see separate post in my blog).

The experiment worked well, the table was stable, the risers did not get in the way and there was less bending.  The only minor downside was it does limit how far across the table you can reach,  a small price to pay for less back discomfort.

Table extender & riser combination used to achieve 37.5" height.

Activation Tiles for Fantastic Battles

 

Below is a picture of the activation tiles / counters I use for Fantastic Battles 1.2.  I bought them from the Dollar Tree, they costed only $1 plus tax for a packet of 26 in 4  colours (medium royal blue, green, purple, fuchsia) and measure 20mm x 18mm x 5mm.. They are marketed by Craft Medley and I have also seen them in black and white.. I add number stickers to them to keep track of the number on the table but this is not essential.  You can of course paint them, and I have painted some of the fushia counters dark red.   Sadly I did not see any on my last visit to the Dollar Tree, but they may have just been put in storage to make room for seasonal decorations.

 https://www.dollartreecanada.com/

However  if you can't find them at the Dollar Tree  you can buy  a pack of 100 from Amazon for a higher price, but with a different mix of colours (red, orange, white, green and light blue), see link the below.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09MZGVSRB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Tiles by Craft Medly from the Dollar Tree

Tiles sold by Amazon

Merry Christams 2022 & Happy New Year 2023

 A belated Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year - 2023.

Picture above of part of my SAGA Age of Magic (AoM) Warband, I will be posting an AAR of the 4 player Christmas SAGA AoM game we played on December 27, 2022 soon.

Overview turn 1 SAGA AoM